AN: Well, already posting chapter 6. Only 2 more chapters after this one until the sequel. I put a bit character in here that I didn't describe much, since it's not like Haruna would talk to Usagi about it, but I had toyed a bit with a story about Haruna's life. In it Haruna meets an American businessman named Robert and they have a rocky relationship as they struggle to communicate in each other's languages and understand each other's cultures. It was half-inspired by an episode in Azumanga Daioh and half-inspired by my relationship while I was in Kyoto. Anyway, I chunked it, but kept the character of Robert in mind, so that's why Haruna's mooning over a guy with an English name. I also think Haruna sensei gets caricatured a lot in fan fiction and I wanted to flesh her out as a more human teacher. Big hugs and thanks to Yasaboo, Ookii Mamoru, Butterfle, and my 1 anonymous reviewer. Thank you especially for your honest reactions to my story and for sharing your thoughts with me! 12-30-03
The next day, a subdued Usagi made it to class rather early. Unable to sleep and tormented by those kisses she kept trying to forget, she had finally given up and decided to get a head-start on the day. She purposefully ignored her mother, who gasped in shock, clutching her spatula to her chest and staring at her daughter as if she had never seen her before. She had to work a little harder to ignore Shingo's teasing, but she was completely oblivious to her father's stunned expression. She scampered away from her house without answering any of their questions. From there, she wove her way through the streets, choosing the same path she had devised to avoid any morning encounters with Mamoru. If she had had justifiable reasons to avoid him after only bold looks and bolder words, how much more she desired to avoid him now!
The knowledge that she was early couldn't slow her steps. If she slowed down, she knew she would think about yesterday. And if she couldn't stop thinking about him, she was certain she'd go mad with all the questions she had no answers for. She entered the school quietly, avoiding the clumps of other early students. She made a beeline for her homeroom. Pausing at the doorway, she observed Haruna-sensei at the desk. Haruna-sensei was holding a note in one hand and a jewelry box in the other. She was looking at the note with sadness and exhaled, "Oh, Robert, I don't know whether to hit you or," she swiveled her head to look at the necklace in the box, "or kiss you."
Usagi couldn't help speaking. With a slight tinge of bitterness, she leaned against the door and muttered, "I know just what you mean."
Haruna-sensei squeaked and turned to face the door. Bewildered by the serious, soulful-eyed, early Usagi, she put the box and note down on the desk and began to rise. "Usagi-chan, you startled me." she reproached gently. Recalling the gloomy 14-year-old's words, her eyes grew worried. She followed Usagi as the girl made her way to her usual desk and then sat next to her. "Would you like to talk about it, Usagi-chan?" she queried gently.
Usagi's eyes flew up to meet her teacher's. Haruna-sensei wasn't yelling at her? She thought for a moment about the offer. Haruna-sensei didn't know Mamoru or about Usagi's alter ego. She wouldn't blow up about a guy kissing her like her dad would. And it wasn't like Haruna-sensei was her mom. Usagi couldn't imagine talking to her mom about this. Her mom would probably want to invite the baka over for cookies or something. Slightly disbelieving she was going to have a personal discussion with her teacher, she nodded shyly, her eyes revealing her hope and confusion.
"Guy trouble?" Haruna-sensei prompted. She was a bit worried, more so than she let on. Usagi was only 14, her youngest student. She was bubbly and pretty and clearly of the age when she was beginning to be interested in guys. What had Haruna-sensei worried was the type of men becoming interested in Usagi. She was pretty and noticeable enough to attract not only the attention of the hormonal teenage boys, but older men as well. Her teacher-sense was trilling out an alarm, causing her to monitor Usagi closely.
"Well," Usagi looked at her desk, one leg swinging about, expending some of her energy, "there's this guy I know. He's really cute, but a total jerk!" At Usagi's exclamation, a small chuckle escaped Haruna-sensei's twitching lips. Her blue eyes flew up, indignation coloring her cheeks, but a dark despair behind her eyes. "He thinks I'm stupid and clumsy and loud and a crybaby-ish nuisance and . . ." she stopped suddenly. Her head drooped, though not in reaction to any expression on Haruna-sensei's face. "And it's true." she murmured brokenly, hot tears rising up.
"Oh, Usagi-chan." Haruna-sensei sighed. "At your age, being clumsy and loud are normal. So is being emotional. You'll grow out of these things." Leaning forward, she spoke gently. "You are the youngest of your classmates. If you are comparing yourself to them, you are doing yourself a disservice. Everyone grows up on his or her own timeline. Everyone's personality is different. Don't be so hard on yourself." Usagi looked up at her, and Haruna-sensei gave her a smile. Then the smile faded as she continued, "As for stupid and ditzy, you are not. You just don't apply yourself." She was scolding lightly when she said the most astounding thing Usagi had ever heard, "That disappoints me because I know you can do better."
Usagi looked at Haruna-sensei as if she had never seen her before. Ami wasn't the only one who thought she could do better? Her teacher, the enemy, thought she was smarter than this? Her head protested this new line of thought. Her heart demanded Usagi stick to the problem at hand. Who better to ask about love-life problems than Haruna-sensei anyway? She filed Haruna-sensei's comments away for later thought. "Well," she began again, "it's what he's said. But," here the girl colored with embarrassment, "I say some mean things to him, too."
Haruna-sensei had no trouble imagining that. Although most of the time Usagi was as sweet as you please, she had seen her lose her cool at Umino-kun on occasion. Sensing Usagi was holding something back, she prompted her with an encouraging, "Mmmhmmm?"
Usagi got the hint. "We had a really big fight over a week ago. He even made Ami-chan and Rei-chan angry."
Now that did surprise her teacher. Ami-chan? Angry? "What did he do?"
"Umm," Usagi hedged. She imagined telling her teacher that she was Sailor Moon. Needing to transform, she had slipped into an alley, which Mamoru had accidentally followed her into. There, both transforming into their super-hero selves, they had seen each other naked. Right, like she could tell her teacher some guy had seen her naked in an alley! There was no way to make that fact not seemed perverted. She did the only thing she could. She ignored the question. "So, until yesterday, we avoided him. But, after that horrid test yesterday, well, I ran into him. We argued, I yelled at him and . . ." she paused, blushing furiously. For a moment, she just couldn't quite get the confession past her lips. Then, on what sounded suspiciously like a sigh, she blurted it out, "He kissed me."
Haruna-sensei blinked. "He kissed you?"
"Yup," Usagi nodded glumly, confessing, "and I got even angrier. So I guess to keep me from yelling, he kissed me again. The first kiss was really short. It made me so angry! But the second kiss . . ." she paused again, searching for the words, "I liked."
Haruna-sensei was confused. "What a minute. Did he force you to kiss him?"
Usagi looked at the righteous anger in her teacher's eyes. "Ummm, I could have pulled away if I had wanted to." she assured her teacher. Even as she said it, she realized it was the truth. Mamoru had kissed her, but she had kissed him back. "But I don't understand why he kissed me if he hates me? And why I kissed him back if I hate him?"
"I don't think hate is the emotion either of you are feeling, Usagi-chan. But I do understand your confusion." Voices in the hall warned them they were about to be intruded upon. "Stay in with me at lunch, Usagi-chan, if you want to talk more." she invited sincerely. Usagi nodded and gave her a tremulous smile, the "thank-you" stuck in her throat. Miraculously, Haruna-sensei, for once, seemed to understand.
Ami arrived a moment later, entering and gazing at Usagi speculatively. Usagi blushed and ducked her head, deciding she'd make up any reason she could in order to stay in with Haruna-sensei and avoid the questions she could see in Ami's eyes.
When class was over, Naru invited Ami and Usagi to go to the arcade together. Usagi eagerly accepted, figuring that if Naru was there, Mamoru would stay away and that neither Ami nor Rei would interrogate her. They arranged to meet Rei on the way, Usagi pretending to call Rei's cell phone but really using the communicator in her watch. Rei was ahead of them, so she checked out the arcade, then came back to meet them, silently conveying to the two senshi that Mamoru was not there . . . yet. Rei teasingly complimented Usagi on avoiding detention, to which Usagi replied by sticking her tongue out companionably. All four girls laughed, entering the arcade with a swish of automatic doors and claiming an empty booth.
Motoki was not long in bringing the laughing group their orders, happy to see them again. Soon Usagi was regaling them with her early morning tale of Haruna-sensei's latest romantic woes. "She was just sitting there looking at the note and . . ."
Mamoru entered, and noticing his quarry and the relative inattention of the group in his direction, he slipped silently up behind Usagi who was imitating Haruna-sensei's lament. "I don't know whether to hit you . . . or kiss you!" Usagi exclaimed with a flourish.
"Well, I prefer the second option, but I suppose we could discuss it." Mamoru supplied silkily, bending over her at a near right-angle. Usagi leaned back, tilting her head up to see the speaker, her lips parted slightly. She stared directly up at him, in some confusion and surprise. He grinned down at her, drawing her eyes to his lips. Nervously, she licked her suddenly dry lips, her eyes widening when his eyes moved to follow the path of her tongue. Like magnets, they were drawn towards each other, her eyes fluttering shut, but just before their lips could touch, a hand intercepted them.
Usagi's eyes flew open, Rei's hand practically pushing her down in her seat. Naru was looking back and forth in shock, from the almost kissing couple to the furious two girls. Rei was standing on her seat, leaning over the table, eyes shooting flames at Mamoru. He met her eyes, challenging her without a word, even as he lazily straightened. However, wary of starting another fight, especially in public, he subsided, tossing her a lazy grin. Usagi half-turned in her seat to watch him go, but when he tossed her a promising wink, she turned beet-red and whirled back, eyes studying the table.
Rei turned her glare to Usagi. Feeling the miko's fiery glare, she weakly met her friend's eyes, then shrugged. Rei flung herself back in her seat, furious with Usagi, whose head hung even lower. All she'd asked the ditz to do was avoid one guy and she couldn't do it!
She let out an exasperated sigh.
Mamoru was watching from his usual seat at the counter. He could read her like a book. He could easily detect the confusion roiling in her and could practically feel her panic at her attraction to him. Well, he felt the same there. Their attraction was irresistible now that they'd kissed. He'd proved that with the almost-kiss just now. She was nervous and wary of him, because of this abrupt shift in their relationship, which he, too, was dealing with.
He was concerned because he felt she was too young for him. When she had called him hentai, it had made him angrier than he had ever been in his life. And he feared ever hearing that dirty, hurtful word again, from anyone. Although he was fairly certain Usagi hadn't understood the full extent of the insult she had hurled at him, it had hurt him a great deal. But more painful to him was the distrust rolling off of her, the distrust that had begun in that alley and was, in his eyes, in no way abating. She was afraid of him. He didn't understand why. He knew understanding it would be of no comfort. What he wanted was her trust, her friendship . . . well, to be honest, he wanted more than friendship. He wasn't fully sure of what he wanted. A relationship with a 14-year-old crybaby? Even as he thought the harsh question he was upset with himself, justifying her easy tears to himself. He wanted her in his life again, and he knew, no matter what else, just friends wasn't going to be enough.
Usagi turned again, self-consciously aware of the gaze boring into her back. When her eyes met Mamoru's, she shivered. Something had made him angry. He was looking at her the way a mighty tiger looks at his prey. She gulped as a smile crossed his lips. It was full of hidden meaning and obvious confidence, the confidence of a predator. To her, it clearly stated, "I'm gonna get you." Now the only question left in her mind was, did she want to be caught? Did she want to hit him or kiss him? What was it he had said that night? 'A kiss and I'm all yours.' Still staring at him, she absently nibbled her lip. She knew the choice she made would be permanent. If she hit him, told him to go away, he would go, forever. But if she chose the kiss, he'd be in her heart forever.
As if he could read her mind, his gaze challenged her, seeming to say, "Did you ever have to finally decide?"